


Bilocation

by cm (mumblemutter)



Category: Loki: Agent of Asgard, Thor - All Media Types
Genre: A Multitude of Lokis, Hurt/Comfort, Incest, Inspired by Fanart, M/M, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-27
Updated: 2014-03-27
Packaged: 2018-01-17 05:43:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1376008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mumblemutter/pseuds/cm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is only Loki.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bilocation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [A (mumblemutter)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mumblemutter/gifts).
  * Translation into Tiếng Việt available: [Bilocation](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3199199) by [thelovedbird](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelovedbird/pseuds/thelovedbird)



> This was written ~~under great duress~~ ~~for a price~~ out of love for the entire h/c genre. Inspired by [this fanart](http://kaciart.tumblr.com/post/80411834254) by [kaciart](http://kaciart.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.

i.

"He is my brother," Thor says, and Loki is heavy in his arms, but not as heavy as he used to be. He is almost weightless, compared to how he used to be. "Sanctuary."

"You'd ask this of me," Stark says, "after all he's done?"

"I still forgive what you did."

"So you're calling in a debt, then," Stark says.

"He's my brother," Thor repeats.

After a moment, Stark nods.

 

ii.

"So what did he do this time," Stark asks, hovering in the doorway. Thor's stripped Loki of his bloodied clothes, washed him down with the cloth helpfully provided by Stark's unobtrusive help. The water in the bowl they provided is red. Not Frost Giant blood: Thor doesn't understand.

The Loki of old would say this is nothing new: Thor understands little.

The Loki of new would say this is nothing new: Thor understands little. But with a smile, to alleviate the sting.

"He saved my life," Thor says.

"And who put it in danger to begin with?" Thor doesn't reply. "Yeah, I thought so. So who's after him - after you. Should I batten down the hatches?"

"We will leave before they arrive."

"As gladly as I'd boot him out onto his ass, you're still an Avenger. We stand together." Thor turns his head, nods a silent thanks. "Call if you need me," Stark continues. "You know - if he tries to stab you or anything."

But Loki only remains still, his breathing shallow and uneven.

 

iii.

Thor sits, the entire night, watching. He is a young god still, but old enough that this night is but a mere blink. He brushes Loki's hair away from his forehead, says, "Don't die, brother. I would hate to have to go to Hel to retrieve you. Hela's not very fond of either of us right now."

Loki opens his eyes. They are faintly dazed, but green as they have ever been. "I'm not dead yet, I promise you." Then his eyes close, and his breathing slows yet again.

"So who tried to kill him," Stark asks.

"He did."

"Ah."

 

iv.

The third day, Loki sits up. Thor offers him soup, says, "It's supposed to strengthen you."

"Does chicken soup work for gods as well?"

"It can hardly hurt."

Loki drinks the soup, then winces. "Why am I not healing?"

"It was a strong spell."

"My own - isn't that how it always goes."

"You were always your own worst enemy."

"That's actually funny, see. Amazing."

 

v.

The soup works but briefly. Soon enough Loki is shivering, pale and weak under the covers.

"I should get a doctor."

"Donald Blake to the rescue? We both know there's nothing Midgardian medicine can do."

"Then a healer - someone. The cosmos is open to the likes of us."

Loki coughs, an awful, rattling thing. "Sure, if you want him to know where we are."

"He already knows."

Stark had come earlier, said, "Do I want to know why Asgard's new king wants the head of the traitor Thor and his - well, the word he used is not fit for polite company. Do I want to know why that king calls himself Loki?"

"We will leave soon," Thor told him. "You have my word."

"No, stay. We rally behind you. We took a vote - the Avengers protect their own. And their - brothers."

 

vi.

"Are my teeth chattering? This is so weird - Frost Giant, right? What is this."

"Perhaps we should take you to Jotunheim."

"Perhaps not."

He continues to shiver, even as Thor turns up the heat.

"Brother," Loki says, and his face is pink with delirium, "Don't leave me."

"Never." It is easy enough, to shed his armor, press himself to Loki's thin frame. Slide his hand down his back and marvel that it's not bowed, that the skin is soft and supple. Marvel that his face is unlined, his mouth twisted in pain but nothing more. Thor holds him close, murmurs into his ear, "Rest, brother."

"Can't -" Loki says. "Can't sleep. You'll choose him in the end. You always choose him." There's resignation in his voice, defeat.

"I have never, would never." Loki doesn't argue, but that's only because he has fallen unconscious.

Thor sleeps, and when he wakes Loki is pressing insistently against him, his arms around Thor's waist. Thor tries to extract himself, but Loki says, "Please, Thor. Don't leave me."

"You're in no condition -"

"I know the two of you have - but you will choose him over me, you always choose him over me." 

Thor traces the line of his jaw, the softness of his lips. "It's not about choosing."

"Yes, it is. I'll die because you couldn't -" he stops there, leaves the words to sink in like Thor's guilt, to bury deep beneath his skin.

"You're delirious."

Loki moans, arches up into him. "I'm not, I just need -" Thor shifts, pushes Loki onto his back and pins his wandering hands down. Loki's eyes are wide, guileless. "Show me you love me as much as you love him."

Thor kisses his fevered brow, his cheeks, everywhere he can touch. He kisses the Loki that is, and the Loki that was. He loves them all: he cannot deny it, not even to himself. But it's the Loki that's here that needs him, and so he gives in, caves as he always does, always will.

 

vii.

Danvers comes into the kitchen as Thor is drowning his sorrows in Stark's scotch.

"Got a glass for me?" Thor waves at the seat across from him, pushes another tumbler at her. "So you want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Good, because I'm not really in the mood myself. I heard your brother tried to kill you again. Or one of him? Wasn't he a child a while ago?"

"No longer," Thor says, and pours his drink down his throat. "Not a child, barely a man. The attempt was not his, but there's still time yet."

"Ah. So the air of guilt you're carrying that looks heavier than your hammer is because -"

"Too many regrets to count. I couldn't choose, you see." Between the brother that was and the brother that is. And if the poison takes him, Thor will feel the loss as if it is a knife to his heart, but it would be the same if it had been the Loki on the throne as well. "I never wanted to be king."

"I don't claim to be an expert on Asgardian royalty, but on Earth there's not really much of a choice in the matter." Her smile fades. "How bad will this get?"

"My brother brought down Asgard on a whim. I do not know what he wants now, but it will likely not end well."

 

viii.

Loki is awake when Thor returns to the room. He pushes aside the covers and says, "I am unwell, brother. Let's cuddle for warmth."

"You seem to have recovered remarkably." But Loki's still pale, the color on his cheeks still high. Thor takes his place under the sheets, and Loki presses up to him. "You said -"

"What did I say? Ah, that. It's true, isn't it?"

Thor slides his arm around Loki's waist. "You are the same."

"He hates you, I don't. That makes us different. I only remember trying to kill you, I didn't actually do the trying."

"I know." He presses his forehead to Loki's. "And what would you have me do?"

"There can only be one Loki in any given realm, Thor. The universe will not tolerate any more. You have to choose."

 

ix.

Asgardia welcomes him, as she always does, despite Loki's orders. Thor wonders what spell her citizens are under, or if they willingly follow Loki now.

"Brother," Loki says, and he is the same, and Thor loves him.

He refuses to take a knee, says instead, "Loki."

"You can call me your Majesty, Thor." There is a smirk on his face. He waves his hand carelessly. "How is the gift I so sweetly delivered to you, all wrapped up in a poison-soaked bow." But there is something dark that glitters in his eyes, a familiar fury drenched in jealousy, in rage.

"He lives."

"For now."

"What do you want?"

"Many, many things. But for starters, I want to be the only Loki there is. The two of us, burning -"

"He doesn't. He's not like you."

"Not yet," and now the fury is no longer hidden. "It will come, it always does. He is me, and Loki always burns. Can't you feel it?" 

Thor climbs up the steps to the throne, takes Loki by the arms. "I mourned you when you passed. I brought you back, and I can return you there as well." 

"You brought him back. I was always here, waiting." 

Thor closes his eyes, and he can feel Loki's malevolent hate, an echo of a sickness that was inside of him. "You hate yourself so, do you?"

"I want to change my story, but it must be mine to change." His voice turns cruel. "Does he taste sweet? Sweeter than I do, I'll wager."

Thor touches his cheek, says, soft, "You were not always like this. I remember us as boys. I remember you. I have never loved anyone more."

Loki turns his head, twists away. "You love a ghost, now returned to you as a shadow of his former self. You love someone that never was. He is not Loki, he just pretends to be." Thor moves away then, moves down the steps without turning, and Loki's eyes widen. "Choose," he almost hisses. "Choose."

Thor shakes his head.

 

x.

He kills a beast; he kills a hundred. Returns to Midgard covered in death to watch his brother sleep, fitful as he turns in the bed. Thor touches his face, and he feels solid, he feels real. Not a ghost, just a boy. Not a ghost, just a godling with the memories of a god. Not a ghost, just Thor's brother.

Thor cannot, will not, choose. And so he sits, and watches Loki until he yawns, opens his eyes. "So is the king of Asgard still an old, wretched monster?"

"Odin sleeps in his exile, but yes."

"So then you're here to kill me?"

"I would never," Thor says, and can hear the echo of a boy, begging him to end it if he turned bad. Not understanding: Thor would have been too selfish to do the right thing when it came down to it. When it came down to Loki.

"So what now?"

"I don't know yet," Thor says. He takes Loki's outstretched hand, puts his palm to his lips. "But there is always tomorrow."


End file.
